Swivel joints in connectors for steam lines of railway cars



Aug. 25, 1959 J. MORRIS, JR 2,901,273

SWIVEL JOINTS IN CONNECTORS FORSTEAM LINES OF RAILWAY CARS Filed Feb. 17, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 l0 5.: l8 .13 /7 4/ 403843 l5 I. I I

Aug. 25, 1959 J. MORRIS, JR 2,901,273

SWIVEL JOINTS IN CONNECTORS FOR STEAM LINES OF RAILWAY CARS Filed Feb. 17, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent SWIVEL JOINTS IN CONNECTORS FOR STEAM LINES 0F RAILWAY CARS John Morris, Jr., Union City, N.J., assignor to Chemical Appliances, Inc., New York, N.Y., a corporation of Delaware Application February 17, 1958, Serial No. 715,752

1 Claim. (Cl. 285-481) The present invention relates to swivel joints in connectors for railway car steam heat lines or pipes for conduction of relatively high temperature steam at elevated pressure.

A general object of the present invention is to provide such a connector swivel joint that is of simple construction having few parts readily produced in mass production and easily assembled, which in service avoids obstruction of the flow passage therethrough and effectively shields parts thereof which may be undesirably deteriorated by direct contact with relatively high temperature fluids, particularly if the latter are under high pressure.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide such a connector swivel joint in which gasketing and packing are remote from and outside of the through flow passage while assuring substantially no leakage of carried steam even though the latter be of relatively high temperature and pressure, the structure insuring unusually long and eificient railway car steam pipe connector service life.

Another object of the present invention is to provide such connector swivel joints in forms well suited to service as parts of metallic steam heat line car connection assemblies for service in efficiently connecting together steam train pipes of successive railway cars in an unusually leak-proof manner, these connection assemblies being readily adapted to mounting in either vertical or horizontal positions as may he demanded by existing car constructions and equipment thereof.

A further object of the invention is to provide structural embodiments of the device which are readily and economically constructed and which permit efficient use and operation thereof.

Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.

The invention accordingly comprises the features of construction, combinations of elements, and arrangement of parts, which will be exemplified in the constructions hereinafter set forth, and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claim.

For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention reference should be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is an end elevational view of two forms of the connector swivel joint of the present invention assembled to form a sub-assembly suitable for use in a steam heat linecar connection assembly;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the swivel connectors shown in Fig. 1 taken substantially on line 2-2 thereof, and showing a portion of a connecting pipe section leading to additional connectors of the present invention;

Fig. 3 is a side elevational view, with parts broken away and in section, of the structure shown in Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is an exploded axial section, with portions broken away, of parts of one of the swivel connectors shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3; and

Fig. 5 is an axial section, with portions broken away, of the parts shown in Fig. 4, illustrating the assembly thereof.

Prior to the present invention many diiferent types of metallic steam line car connection assemblies have been proposed for service and used with suitable coupler heads to connect together the steam heat pipes of successive railway cars in making up trains thereof. Those most frequently used are characterized by swivel joints in which the gasket elements and springs employed to hold such gasket elements snugly to their seats are located in the through steam passages to constitute obstructions therein and where they are subjected drectly to the destructive effects of hot steam at high pressures, the temperatures and pressures thereof commonly being respectively in the ranges of about 360 F. to 417 F. and 160 lbs. per sq. in. to 300 lbs. per sq. in. Excessive steam leakage is characteristic of their services. These difiiculties and other problems inherent to additional proposals are efficiently eliminated by embodiments of the present invention as will be clear from the following description of the structures shown in the drawings.

One form of the connector swivel joint of the present invention is illustrated at 10 in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 and in Figs. 4 and 5. As will be seen therein, the connector swivel joint 10 comprises a pipe fitting 11 having an externally threaded nipple stub 12 and an enlarged socketed end portion 13 suitably connected to another pipe fitting 14 by a connecting ring 15. The pipe fitting 11 may be called an end valve adaptor.

The enlarged socketed end portion 13 is provided With a counterbored recess 16 circumscribed by a lateral or transversely-extending end seat surface 17 and the bottom face 18 of the socket or counterhored recess 16 provides an internal, lateral or transverse, circular swivel seat which is larger in diameter than the nipple passage 19.

The connecting ring 15, which may be referred to as a swivel plate, serves as a socket or chamber-closing ring and has an inner, lateral or transverse end face 21) providing a lateral or transverse circular swivel seat opposed to and longitudinally spaced from the socket swivel seat 18 of the fitting 11 so as to define therebetween a swiveling chamber having a cylindrical side wall. Preferably the inner end face 20 of the chamber-closing or socket ring 15 is stepped, as is indicated at 21, to provide an annular land 22 having an internal diameter appreciably greater than the diameter of the socket 16. Thus, when the land 22 is abutted to the lateral end seat 17 an annular recess 23 is provided by the stepping, which is radially outward of the swivel seat 23 A suitable gasket ring 24 is seated in the recess 23 and may be of conventional construction,

such as asbestos sheathed in aluminum. Suitable means are provided for fastening the connecting ring 15 to the socketed end portion 13 of the fitting 11 and may be in the form of a plurality of bolts 25-25. Preferably, the socketed end portion 13 is generally rectangular in external shape in a plane parallel to. its socket seat 18, as may be understood from the plan view of the enlarged end portion 113 of a similar swivel connector part, as will be seen in Fig. 1, and connecting ring 15 preferably is of similar rectangular outside shape. Such shape of the parts 13 and 15 provides corner portions or ears 26-26 and 27-27 located radially outward of the swivel seats 18 and 20 as well as of the gasket recess 23 and the gasket 24 therein. The corner projections 26-26 and 27-27 are pierced or provided with through holes 28-28 and 2929 which extend longitudinally of the connector 15 to the socketed end portion 13 with the gasket ring 24 compressed in a fluid-tight manner in the gasket recess 23.

Companion pipe fitting .14 also has. a nipple stub 32. in the form of a longitudinally-extending hollow bodyprovided with a laterally-extending annular flange 33. rotatably mounted inthe swiveling chamber defined by socket 16 and connecting ring 15. This companion fitting 14 may be called a swivel stud. The opposite lateral faces 3;4.and 35 of annular flange 33 respectively are opposed to the swivel seats 18 and 2 with relatively close tolerance for rotation thereagainst, and preferably the, CD. of flange 33 is only slightly less than the ID. of socket- 16 so as to avoid undue slop. Also, the OLD. of'the longitudinally-extendinghollow body portion 32' of companion fitting 14 is preferably only slightly less than the ID. of the inner end portion of the connecting ring 15 whi'ch provides swivel seat 20.

In accordance with the. present invention, stuffing box means are provided for packing the connector swivel joint structure 10. For this. purpose, the connecting ring 1'5'is provided with a circular socket 36, in its outer end, such as by means. of a counterbore, to define an annular packing recess. A ring or annulus 37 of suitable. packing material is mounted in the packing recess 36. and initially its I.D. may be only slightly greater thanthe 0.13,. of the longitudinally-extending hollow body portion 32 of the. companion pipe fitting 14, so as tov assure ready insertion. ofthe latter through the former in assembling the parts while requiring a minimum of compression to swell the packing ring in the packing recess to form a fluid-tight joint. An annular gland ring 38 is. arranged concentrically' about the hollow body portion 32 of companion pipe fitting 14 andhas an end portion or axially-extending flange 3Q telescoped into the packing recess 36 against the packing ring 37 mounted therein. Annular gland ring 38 '1naybe called a packing gl'andj Suitable means are provided for fastening the gland ring 381m the, connecting or. socket ring 15 with pressure applied, to the packing ring 37 thereby, and such means may be in the. form of a pair of stud bolts 40, 40 threadably mounted in internally-threaded sockets 41, 41 in the outer end. of connecting or socket ring 15' radially beyond the packing recess 36'. The outer ends of stud bolts 40; 40 are received through holes 42, 42 in gland ring 38 radially outward of axial pressure-applying flange 39:. Nuts; 43, 4? on the outer ends of stud bolts 40, 40 are tightened up to force the gland ring 38 axially inward so. as to apply by means of its axial flange 39 pressure topackingring 37 in packing recess 36, thereby causingthe packing ring to swell radially for pressure contact with the walls of the packing recess and the cylindrical outer wall of the longitudinally-extending hollow body portion 32. of com: panion pipe fitting 14, so as to effect the desired fluid.- ti'ght. joint.

The stutfing box or packing ring 37 may be made of a variety of materialssuitably chosen. to resist the deteriorating effects ofjthe-conditions of the site of such connector swivel joint structure 10. For example, in the use Of a. form of the present connector swivel joint for a. steam heat line car connection assembly, the material from which packing ring 37 is formed should be able to stand upwell under elevated temperatures. up to about 5 00 F.

and to withstand relatively high pressures of upwards of 300 lb per qand it may hav to dv ntage. ertain lubricating properties.

InFigs. l, 2 and 3, the connector swivel joint structure It) is shown connected to,a companion connector swivel joint structure 100 of. the present invention whichissimi lar in many respects. The chief difference betw.een.con-. nector swivel joint structures and Mill-will be-notedto reside in the fact that for the pipefitting 11; an; e lbow pipe tt ng is su m t d. Aswillibeh tu crstoodifrom Fig. 2, elbow-fitting; 44. is provided withjan internallyrcadcd. able. 5 hichlhrca ab y r c ives therein ea er-,-

nally-threadcd end 46 of companion pipe fitting 14, and

the elbow fitting is provided with an enlarged socketed end portion 113 similar to the socketed end portion 13 of pipe fitting 11. Such elbow fitting 44 may be called an elbow flange. The remaining parts of the connector swivel joint structure are similar to. or like those of the remaining parts of the connector swivel joint structure 10. For purposes of the. intended services: in steam heat line car connection assemblies elbow fitting- 100- may be provided with an eye 47 to which may be anchored by an- S-shaped link 48, one end of. a suspension spring 49.

When it is desired to employ to advantage connector swivel joint structures of the present invention illustrated in the drawings as sub-assemblies in a steam heat line car connection assembly the paired connector swivel joint structures 10 and 100 may be connected by an elbow fitting 5t) and a pipe section or long nipple 51 to a pair of successively-arranged. connectors swivel joint. structures like that illustrated at 100... The, stub. nipple of. the last. such connector. swivel joint structure, similar tothat shown at 132 in Fig. 2, may be connected by a. suitablesleeve coupler to apipe. section. or long nipple. which; in turn is connected to the coupler head, and the other end. of the, suspension spring 49 may be, connected to: this sleeve coupler for adjustable support. of thepaired. connector, swivel joint, structures 10.0, 10.0, and the coupler. head. Fitting 11 will be connected tothe car pipe; The. unusually trying. conditions of. the. service of steam heat line car connection. assembliesare. effectively accommodated by the use therein of the illustrated embodi: merits of the, connector. swivel joint. structure. of. the. present invention. Unusually long service lifewith 6110111113,.- tion of substantial leakage, of pressure. steam at swivel joints is assured.

It will. thus be seen that. the, objects. set forth above. among those. made apparent. from the, preceding descrip.- tion, are: efficiently attained and, since certain changes. may be made in the above constructions. without. depart.- ing; from thescope of the, inventiom it is. intended. that all matter contained in the above; description or. SllQWll: in. the accompanying drawings. shall. be. interpreted as illustrative and not. inalimiting sense.

It is also to be. understood. that thefollowing. claim. isintcnded to cover all of the genericand. specificfea tures of the invention herein described, and. allstatements of. the scope ofthe. inyention which, as. amatter. of lan: guage, might be said tofalltherebetween.

Having described, my invention, whatlclaim as. new and desire to secure; by Letters Patent is;

In a pipe connector assembl for. railway. car: steam. heat lines to conduct flow therethrough of. steam. atelevated temperatures. and, pressures destructive. to, packing materials and other elements:characteristic. of'theswivel. jointsof conventional. connectors ;for.. such. service, .a connector swivel joint comprising in, combinationgatpipc. fit: tinghaving a longitudinal, cylindrical through: passagefor.

flowtherethrough of, railway car. high. pressure. heating. steam and a concentric socketed. end. portion. arranged. aboutthe passage andhaving a; cylindrical socket o.cer-

tain internal diameter, said: socketed. endportion proyid,

ing a-- lateral end seat and-an,- inteInaL, lateral, circular.

swivel seat at the bottom of thensocket' spaced. longitudig nally inwardof said, end seatwith; said. seatsarranged concentric of j the passage; anannular-socket: closing, ring,

havingastepped inner, end: faceprovidingan..annula1: land.

,abutted to said lateral end-1seatand; an, annular gasket.

ring. recessradially inward; oia said: land between the. lateral end seat of said; socketed: endportion andtheinncr;

end face of said ring; arranged: concentrically-with. respect. to the through; steam. passage; said; socket; closing; ring;

having. an: inwardly-extending, lateral; .circular, seat-defining portion f ccrtaininternal.diameter with one circular; 1

swivel seat of said pipe fittingtodefine With saidisocketed end portion between said swivel seats a swiveling chamber concentric with the through steam passage and opened on the radially-inward side thereof to the through steam passage by an annular, longitudinally-extending, entry space, the opposite circular lateral face of said ring seatdefining portion constituting a bottom, lateral, circular packing recess seat longitudinally spaced from said ring swivel seat; a gasket ring mounted in the gasket ring recess and compressed between the lateral end seat of said pipe fittting socketed end portion and the inner end face of said socket closing ring; tightening means an shoring said socket closing ring to said pipe fitting socketed end portion with said gasket ring clamped therebetween in its recess radially inward of the annular land; said socket closing ring having its outer end provided with a longitudinally-extending circular socket arranged concentrically with respect to and of limited depth terminating at said bottom, lateral, circular packing recess seat with the socket being of an internal diameter appreciably greater than the internal diameter of said ring seatdefining portion to define an annular packing recess; a companion pipe fitting having a longitudinally-extending, cylindrical hollow body portion provided with a longitudinal, cylindrical through passage for flow therethrough of railway car high pressure heating steam communicating and coaxially aligned with the through passage of said first pipe fitting and carrying thereon a laterally-extending, exterior circular flange rotatably received through said annular entry space into said swiveling chamber and of an external diameter slightly less than the internal diameter of the chamber socket with the cylindrical side wall of the latter juxtaposed to the circumferential edge of said flange, said annular flange having a pair of opposite, longitudinally-spaced, lateral bearing faces respectively opposed to said chamber swivel seats and seated in bearing contact thereof with relatively close tolerance for rotation against both of said swivel seats, said cylindrical hollow body portion of said companion pipe fitting being of an external diameter slightly less than the internal diameter of said seatdefining portion of said socket ring and extending out through the latter and its packing recess in relative rotary relation thereto; a ring of packing material mounted in said packing recess in annular contact with said hollow body portion and against said bottom lateral seat of said packing recess; an annular gland ring mounted about said hollow body portion and having an axially-extending, cylindrical end flange slidably telescoped into the open outer end of said packing recess against said packing ring; and pressure-applying, adjustable means fastening said gland ring to said socket closing ring and forcing said gland ring longitudinally against said packing ring with compression of the latter against said packing recess bottom seat and snugly about said hollow body portion in a gaskettight seal.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 331,806 McGahan Dec. 8, 1885 393,139 Bodycomb Nov. 20, 1888 788,721 Johnson May 2, 1905 808,457 Kraver Dec. 26, 1905 FOREIGN PATENTS 5,202 Great Britain 1880 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 2,9Q;,2'73 August 25, 1959 John Morris, Jr

' It is hereby certified that error appears in the above numbered patent requiring correction and that the said Letters Patent should read'as corrected below.

I In the grant, lines 2 and 12, and in the heading to the printed specification, lines 4 and 5, name of assignee, for Chemical Appliances, Inca", each occurrence, read Chemical Appliances Incorporated in the printed specification, column 1,, line 61, before "to form insert together column 2, line 13, for "drectly" read directl'y column 3, line '72, for "submitted" read w substituted Signed and Se ied this l2th day oi April 1960.

(SEAL) Attest':

KARL H. AXLINE i ROBERT C. WATSON Attestlng Office! Comnissioner of Patents 

